UE Metabolic physiology and pathophysiology

The course is organized into two parts:

The first one is devoted to the understanding of the integrated metabolism in mammals under physiological conditions, with a particular emphasis on the interactions between the different organs involved in homeostasis.

The second one is focused on the dysregulations of the physiological pathways involved in energy homeostasis. In this context, the main metabolic disorders, such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity are discussed, as well as their main co-morbidities : atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Competences to be acquired by the students:

- understanding of an integrated physiological system, taking into account biochemical, hormonal and environmental interactions;

- understanding of the physiological processes to be able to analyze pathophysiological disorders;

- developing an integrated approach in physiology, comparable to that adopted in drug design.